The gaming and gambling furore

A debate has been raging in Tamil Nadu regarding the enforcement of a ban on online gambling for a while now. Last week, governor RN Ravi returned the State’s bill prohibiting online games and gambling. A day later, the State cabinet chaired by Chief Minister MK Stalin decided to reintroduce the bill, adopt it once again, and send it back to the governor for assent. The State law minister S Regupathy had said that over the past four months, while the Raj Bhavan was stalling on the bill, as many as 12 people died by suicide after losing money in online gambling.

He mentioned that as per the governor, the subject matter of online skill-based games falls under entry 31 of the Union List, while games of chance alone falls under entry 34 (betting and gambling) of the state list. Tamil Nadu had enacted the legislation under entry 34, entry 1 (public order), entry 6 (public health), and entry 33 (theatres and performances). This means the governor does not have the power to reject it. Actually, the State government had drawn a clear distinction between online and offline games, while the governor himself had promulgated an Ordinance banning online gaming and gambling in September 2022.

As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, the Bill is a means to save the people. When an expert committee had submitted its report to the government, there were 22 reported suicides due to online rummy. Presently, that number has been revised to 33. Healthcare specialists have surmised that online gambling has evolved into an addiction for several players, and as the stakes are raised, the component of ‘pay to play’ emerges, owing to which they end up losing their savings, and eventually resort to extreme measures.

Research has shown that the risk of addiction to online gambling is at least 30% higher as compared to the risk of alcohol or internet addiction. In games like online rummy, the player is not pitted against another online gamer, but an algorithm, which has been designed to make the gamers spend more time on the game. Many programmes have been crafted in a manner that the players are never able to win, and the temptation to even the odds in the ‘one last attempt’ makes them cough up even more cash in the vain hopes of winning.

But it’s not card games or rummy that feature cash components. Several puzzle-based mobile games, as well as real time strategy (RTS), first-person shooters and simple games aimed at adolescents also require the players to begin paying for additional features like power-ups, advanced weapons and armour, skill-unlocking and revealing of secrets like Easter eggs within the games.

The State is now caught in a Damocles’ Sword-like situation. On one hand, there is the question of weaning away impressionable young men and women away from the perils of e-gambling. On the other hand, the e-gaming sector by itself is a billion-dollar business, which employs thousands of skilled professionals, and is on the radar of some of the biggest IT companies globally. By all means, it makes sense to bring in fail-safe measures to keep underage players or vulnerable individuals out of the ambit of games that involve an element of gambling. However, a more nuanced and economically-rational approach will be necessary to determine the fates of those who deal in the business of electronic entertainment such as games, as well as the millions of players who sustain that business.